A chocobo stable in the forest not far south
of Mobliz optionaly allows for less trouble on the journey. The
tower built by the Cefca Fanatics is visible along the way, but it's
surrounded by mountains and unreachable for the time being.

There's no longer a mountain range between
South Figaro and the Figaro Desert, but the eastern cave entrance
is still here, right near the town. The western entrance seems to
have vanished, though, and there's no sign of the castle, just like
hearsay says. Naturally, both the overworld and the cave have
new monsters. Many in the cave can inflict 'confusion', so equip
protection. An armed man stands just inside the entrance.

ｼﾞｰｸﾌﾘｰﾄﾞ「この先は危険だぜ。
俺様が先に行ってモンスターどもを
残らずかたづけて来てやる。
ここで待ってな。

Siegfried: It's dangerous ahead.
I'll go first and take care of every
last monster. Wait here.

SIGFRIED: Pretty dangerous from here on. I'll go in first and clear out all the monsters. Wait here.

Remember the guy back on the
Grim Train
who stole a treasure and talked big but was pathetically weak?
This guy uses the same name, but with an extremely subtle
difference in the name that may just be an oversight. The final
ド is halfwidth here, like the rest of the name, but was fullwidth
back then.

Anyway, don't trust him. He doesn't clear out
the monsters and never comes back.

If you've been putting off collecting these
chests, the contents are done changing. Get them now for an
X-Potion, Ether Turbo, and Brave Ring.

Celes finds the thieves by the pond near
the blocked-off dead end that used to be the western entrance.

ｼﾞｪﾌ「さ、どうする？

Jeff: So, what now?

GERAD: Now, where were we...?

よ～し よし よし
カメちゃん エサだよ。

Heeeere boy, over here.
Have some food, lil' turtle.

Here, boy...
Here's some nice food for you!

A large turtle in the pond moves
toward the middle, forming a stepping stone of
sorts.

「ね？
ｼﾞｪﾌ「やるな。
「おれ昔カメかってたんっす。

: See?
Jeff: Not bad.
: I used to have a pet turtle.

Presto!
GERAD: Good Job!
I used to have a turtle...!

Note the mark indicating dialog by
an unnamed character. It's the mook who used to have a pet
turtle, not Jeff/GERAD.

None of the chests beyond contain
anything, and exploring the nooks and crannies reveals the
reason. Siegfried has been taking them. Though surprised
to be caught, he runs away before anything can happen.

すたこら さっさーー！

I'm outta here, on the double!

On the hum, let's go!!!!

What's this guy even doing here in the first
place? Regardless, the tunnel goes into the Figaro Castle prison
as promised.

フィガロ城
Figaro Castle
FIGARO CASTLE

"Edgar & Sabin" plays
as usual. The thief boss stops to check on a fallen guard
before moving on.

ｼﾞｪﾌ「だいじょうぶか？
もうすぐのしんぼうだ。

Jeff: You okay?
Hold on a little bit longer.

GERAD: You all right?
You were almost a goner.

Like every other NPC in the area,
the guard says only one thing.

く くるしい……

C-can't breathe...

I...it was awful...

I got the impression playing the NA
version that the thieves had attacked everyone who dared
get in their way. They're actually just barely conscious due
to a shortage of fresh air from being stuck underground for
the past year. Fortunately, the castle isn't airtight, especially
with that cave connection, but the locals aren't exactly in top
condition. It's anyone's guess how they handled food and
water.

The outside doors won't open (no surprise
there), leaving only one place to go.

機関室
Engine Room
ENGINE ROOM (and surrounding area)

Naturally, monsters have overrun the engine
room area. "Returners" plays down here for mood.
Look around for some treasure (Crystal Helm, Royal Crown,
Ether Turbo, Gravity Rod, X-Potion), then find the thieves and the
engine itself, which tentacles infest.

ｼﾞｪﾌ「こいつが…
からまっていたせいか…
「ボス！どうしやす？
宝が隠してある部屋は
この奥でっせ！

Jeff: So this is why...
that's tangled up in things...
: Boss! What now?
The room where the treasure's
hidden is past here!

GERAD: Here's the problem...
What a mess...
Boss! What're we gonna do? Our treasure's stored in the room back there!

Tina already had her obligatory close
encounter with tentacles back in the first Orthros fight, so now it's
Celes's turn, apparently. The four tentacles
(bottom right,
bottom left,
top right,
top left) each have
different strengths, weaknesses, and vulnerabilities. The party
automatically surrounds them, so the characters will appear
on both sides with the tentacles in the middle (though skipping
Mash could leave Edgar and Celes on the right with the left
empty). Edgar joins the battle in the first empty slot, using the
strongest equipment available, chosen as when using the
Equip Strongest option in the menu.

While they otherwise vary, all four tentacles
use the same attack pattern. Aside from normal attacks and the
occasional Bio or
Poison, they favor skills that
inflict 'slow', and tend to grab characters that have 'slow' status.
Captured characters cannot act, while the capturing tentacles
gradually drain health from them. Equip Hermes's Shoes
to avoid 'slow' status and prevent this from happening
(except to Edgar, who has no accessories for the battle),
and this becomes much less tedious. Summoning Golem or
Fenrir may help Edgar avoid slowing as well, but only some
causes.

As far as vulnerabilities go,
Death works on the bottom-left
one for a quick kill, 'stop' works on the top-left one, 'slow' works
on all four, and you can use Edgar's Bio Blast to 'poison'
all but the top-left one. The two on the right are also vulnerable to
'silence' and less dangerous when afflicted.

For attack traits, all four have
normal vulnerability to Wind,
Poison, and
Holy, so Mash's Shinkuu Ha is
a viable option if learned. Edgar's Drill is always a solid choice
after that one shot with the Bio Blast. Each of the three prime traits
are absorbed by a single different tentacle, but Celes will do
well to spam Blizzara after
the bottom-left one is dead, since none of the others have any
special protection against Ice, and
the bottom-right one (which also has the most health)
is even weak against it. Three out of the four also absorb
Water attacks, but considering
how rare those are, who cares?

{Celes}: Way to play dumb.
{Edgar}: I heard that Figaro had
broken down. I wanted to go help,
but, well, it was inside the sand.
That's when I heard about those
guys coming out of the castle.
{Celes}: So you used them.
{Edgar}: I couldn't be exposed as
King Figaro before I got them to
lead me to the secret cave.
{Celes}: You're the king who once
put them in jail, after all.

{CELES}: Why the stupid farce?
{EDGAR}: Well, I heard that Figaro had had an accident.
I wanted to help, but didn't know where to look.
Then I heard that those idiots had escaped from the prison.
{CELES}: You needed to use them...
{EDGAR}: Bingo.
I had to wait until they led me to their secret cave.
{CELES}: Amazing, considering that you threw most of 'em in jail to begin with!

If present.

{ﾏｯｼｭ}「みずくせえな。

{Mash}: Quit acting like we're strangers.

{SABIN}: Don't treat us like strangers anymore!

Edgar goes to check the door,
and evidently hears something he doesn't like.

"Edgar & Sabin" plays
after Edgar joins, though the monsters still appear. Check the
armor in the looted treasure room for a Soul Saber the thieves
overlooked.

Incidentally, the room with the engine
is the only place in the game where the
Drop enemies appear.
Try to find a group to fight before leaving.

The operator returns the castle to the
surface when you head back upstairs.

なおったんですね！
そ～れ ふじょ～～

It's fixed!
And... surfacing!

Nonsense!
It's been fixed!
Next stop, the surface!

Having Edgar as your lead character
halves the prices not only here (as it always has), but now also
in South Figaro (though they won't say anything special). Take
advantage of it if you need anything, and note that the castle
merchant now sells even the Weakmaker, making every machine
except the Chainsaw (which you should have picked up in Zozo)
and Air Anchor. Also, Mash doesn't get a discount and never did,
even though the castle merchants react to him, too.

Head back to the operator when done
to ride the castle to Kohlongen, just like old times.